(a) Technical Field
The present invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition for preventing and treating inflammatory diseases comprising an ethyl acetate fraction of dried extract of Trachelospermi caulis as an active ingredient and a method for producing the fraction.
(b) Background Art
Arthritis is a collective term for a disease associated with inflammatory changes which occur within a joint region due to bacterial infection or external injuries. Arthritis is largely classified into acute arthritis and chronic arthritis, depending on the duration of inflammation.
In this regard, acute arthritis is further divided as follows (Doosan Encyclopedia).
Serous arthritis is generally caused by external injuries, but may occur due to unknown reasons. It usually occurs in one joint.
Serofibrinous arthritis occurs with the acute rheumatoid arthritis, and turbid exudate is gathered in the articular cavity. This may cause dyscinesia even after inflammation is deteriorated due to the generation of pseudomembrane.
Suppurative arthritis occurs in the open wounds of a joint or contagious diseases such as gonorrhea, typhoid, scarlatina, and septicemia. Young infants aged 1-2 months may develop incurable disarticulation due to severe damage on bones. Adults often develop periosteomyelitis which causes purulent discharge to allow release of pus into joints, so called secondary suppurative arthritis.
Chronic arthritis is further divided as follows.
Specific type of inflammation generally refers to tuberculous, syphilitic or gouty arthritis caused by metabolic disorder due to the accumulation of uric acid commonly occurring in middle-aged men. Multiple arthritis is commonly caused by chronic rheumatoid arthritis. It may be developed from acute serous arthritis, may occur as a polyarthritis in the course of tuberculosis, syphilis, and gonorrhea, or may be a kind of septicemia.
In addition, Still's disease also belongs to this category.
Osteoarthritis deformans is generally caused by aging or external injuries of the bones or joints, and hemophilic arthritis is caused by joint bleeding in hemophilia.
There have been developed many pharmaceutical drugs that aim to treat inflammatory diseases represented by the above mentioned arthritis.
Trachelospermi caulis, also called as Trachelospermum asiaticum var. intermedium Nakai, is Lonicera sempervirens which belongs to the family of Apocyanaceae. It grows as high as 5 meters, and has five deeply divided petals. It has strongly scented, pinwheel-shaped white flowers in May-June, and bears fruits around September-November. It has two long fruits that look like a Chinese character representing a person. Surprisingly, the fruits often form a bracelet-shaped, round circle. Trachelospermi caulis grows in the seashore, hillside or wilderness in Southern parts of Korea, and generally grows rambling along the rocks, walls, or other trees or plants. In the areas where Trachelospermi caulis thrives, other kinds of grasses do not grow, and Trachelospermi caulis only covers the area. According to the ‘Dictionary of Oriental Medicine’ published by North Korea, Trachelospermi caulis is dried stems and leaves of Trachelospermum asiaticum var. intermedium Nakai. It has a bitter taste and a cold property from the viewpoint of oriental medicine. It acts on heart meridian, liver meridian, and renal meridian. It also eliminates wind-dampness and promotes smooth interconnection of meridian pathways. In addition, it is useful to treat paralytic syndrome, cramps of limbs, lumbago, arthritic pains, tonsillitis, and rashes. It is described that about 5-10 g of Trachelospermi caulis is decocted and administered orally.
Further, it is used to treat limbs paralysis due to wind-dampness, muscular paralysis, and difficulty in bending and stretching bodies, by blending with dried root bark of Acanthopanax sessiliflorus and dried root of Achyranthes bidentata BI. It also helps to cool the blood, and thus is decocted and administered for the treatment of sore throat, abscess or the life. The fruits of Trachelospermi caulis ripen in July. The ripened fruits are collected and used. 6-12 g is decocted and administered orally to treat bone and muscle aches. Leaves and stems are mostly used, and they are collected any time regardless of seasons, dried in the sunlight, and cut into small pieces before use.
‘Chinese Honam medicine paper’ recommends that bone and muscle aches are treated by oral administration of Trachelospermi caulis prepared by soaking 37-74 g thereof in an alcoholic beverage. ‘Kangseo herbal medicine’ recommends that arthritis is treated by oral administration of a liquid herbal medicine prepared by decocting each 37 g of Trachelospermum asiaticum var. intermedium Nakai and Acanthopanacis Cortex and 18.5 g of hyssop with water. It is preferable to prepare a liquid herbal medicine by decocting 8-12 g of dried Trachelospermi caulis in 200 mL of water until the entire volume is reduced by two-thirds. Alternatively, it can be administered in the form of liquor prepared by soaking it in an alcoholic beverage or in the form of powder. For external use, it is pulverized into powder and then the powder paste is applied to the wounded area. Alternatively, the wounded area is rinsed with the juice of its fresh leaves. Trachelospermi caulis is Apocyanaceae that is used to treat lumbago, strengthen bones and muscles, and make joints smooth. Trachelospermi caulis has been known to contain tracheloside, arctiin, matairesinoside, arctigenin, notracheloside, etc., as components.
Trachelospermi caulis has been described as simple prescription in the old herbal encyclopedia such as Donguibogam, Hyangyakjipsungbang, and Gwangjebigeup, or in the related articles. However, these prescriptions merely mentioned identification by external appearance, efficacies of the oriental herbal medicine, and the preparation methods of decoction. That is, there have been no descriptions of the active ingredients in the extracts of Trachelospermi caulis, prepared by the above mentioned methods.
Accordingly, the present inventors obtained Korean Patent No. 0847439 that discloses Trachelospermi caulis extract compositions for preventing and treating inflammatory diseases.
However, since natural extracts generally exhibit their efficacy when used in a high dose, and also contain a variety of ingredients, it is difficult to apply them in the preparation of medicines.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.